List Of Natural Disasters

We live in century of changing environment when sudden natural disasters like tsunami or earthquake can strike even at places where none hear about them before resulting in lasting changes to environment. Often even almost unnoticeable incident can bring in other disasters which like avalanche make all things worse minute by minute. Surviving any of natural disasters can be hard and possibly deadly challenge if you do not know what to do and how to react on each of this threats, be totally unprepared in situation when everything crash, burn and flood in same time can bring only havoc and panic in 99% of cases, no matter in how good shape you are – if you do not know how to deal with emergency situation you have very small chances to survive and bet on your bare luck is total irresponsibility.

How to deal with natural disasters and be prepared? In first know what they can bring to your life and have good list of natural disasters in first to have some type reference and then sort out them out in type how likely they can happen. You should already have some background knowledge on place where you live, but if you are just newcomer, don’t be shy, talk to your new neighborhoods and find out what happens in the past. Just remember that unprepared person always see all things worse then they are, so critical viewpoint is required. Another good source of information is local or regional museums, go visit them together with your family, you can enjoy holidays together and in same time research some important information about subject. Of course you can search about your area in internet or meteorological archives, but make sure that this is not your only source of information as often it contain only broad information on what happen there, missing notable and important nuances, which you often can research while gathering info from local sources.

Storms: Cyclones, Hurricanes, Blizzards and Tornadoes
When low pressure area with high pressure surroundings are formed by weather conditions, opposed forces create high winds and form storm clouds which leads to storm and if conditions are beneficial – to tornadoes. There are many varieties of storms, depending on location and time of the year.

For tropical areas most common are tropical cyclones and hurricanes. All tropical cyclones starts when conditions of extra low atmospheric pressure and release of huge amounts of heat condensation which all together compose area with fast winds and heavy rain. If tropical cyclone or hurricane is strong enough, it will collect area of sinking air at the center of cyclone, which in this case is called an “cyclone eye”. To provide up to date information regarding cyclones and hurricanes there are six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers for observation and forecasting tasks worldwide. If you live in cyclones affected area, having at least list of basic emergency supplies ready at your home is a must, especially in cyclone season. Emergency radio with NOAA weather channel would be a great addition to any survival kit.

In winter conditions one of the biggest threats are ice storms or also called as freezing rain which happen when temperatures at ground level are still above sub zero which are covered by thick layer of freezing air below zero. When rain hits freezing layer, it covers anything with ice core. When “ice core” grow to critical mass, trees and power lines collapse leaving whole territories without power and paralyzed. Every snowstorm that exceeds 56 km/h (35 mph) are classified as blizzard, sometimes mixed with wet snow or even rain and can paralyze complete regions for a days, especially if they happen in unusual blizzard regions. The best strategy in blizzard and other winter storms are if possible stay indoors and be prepared with enough emergency food and backup electricity power sources to be ready for possible blackouts after snow storm strikes. Remember that high wind and cold can freeze out you in mater of minutes.

Avalanches
Avalanches are typical for mountainous regions and often are not just load of snow rapidly sliding down the slope, but enormous mass of snow, ice and rocks mix that crash everything on it’s road. Can be triggered by natural or human made factors and it is one of the deadliest threats in mountainous regions. Avalanche destruction potential is usually rated on five categories logarithmic scale, with corrections on local forecast region. Follow safety instructions in avalanche terrain and know potential places with high risk and more likely you will be fine, do not forget include some special equipment like avalanche beacons, also known as “beepers” which emit and can also transmit signal to help find buried under snow avalanche victim.

Earthquakes
Tremor, quake or earthquake is the result of moving Earth plates as a result of energy release in the Earth crust. Depending on earthquake strike area, ground shaking and collapsed structures like buildings and bridges are not the only damage made to environment, most of the time next wave of destruction are even more worse then earthquake itself – volcanic activity, landslides and avalanches, tsunami and flood, fires from damaged gas and fuel tanks are just a few possible threats after quake. Various earthquake warning systems are developed to predict ongoing earthquake and warn people living in excessive seismic activity zone so they have time evacuate or find cover according to their earthquake checklist. Note that after earthquake city infrastructure can be damaged and kicked out of order for long, so preparing you and your household with long storage food and water, tools and communication devices are required.

Lightning strikes
Approximately 16 millions of storms with lightning strikes hit Earth every year, lightning a leader of a bolt can reach 54’000 °F or 30’000 °C which easily fuse sand to thick glass structure. Lightning discharge can damage electrical lines, knock out electronics and even rise forest wildfires. To stay safe at time when lightning strike main rule is not standing out from other tall structures like trees, buildings and so on, be “under the radar” and you will be fine. Also stay away from water if possible, nearby lightning hit can seriously injure or even kill you as water conducts electricity. Having emergency survival kit at home together with backup power sources can make your life easier in case of lightning take out your house and nearby power lines.

Communicable diseases
Even seasonal influenza can leave notable damage to your health, if treated wrong or too late. Tuberculosis, Smallpox, Measles are just a few names of common spread diseases which can strike anytime and anywhere, no matter which country you live. Most common way to avoid illness are know simple steps of personal hygiene like washing hands after do something outdoors, before eating or preparing your food, being aware of your food and prepare your meals right and general – stay away from ill or suspected to ill persons, cut off your visits to them and from them, if there are seasonal influenza outside, better stay at home and don’t go to public cinema or spend day in shopping mall with other infected people around, there are better time for this, so why challenge your luck?

Tsunamis
Mostly initiated by volcanic and seismic activity tsunamis are serious threat for anyone living nearby large amounts of water like seas, large inland lakes and of course oceans. There are historical facts than some of ancient civilizations has heavy hit and almost disappear as a result of tsunami destruction. One of the most notable last years natural disaster with many deaths and mass destruction of infrastructure was Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 which take lives from about 300’000 people, heavy hitting beaches of Maldives, Malaysia, Somalia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Thailand at the time of Christmas holidays. No mater how large first wave of tsunami looks, best strategy in this emergency case is just one – run away as soon as possible, grab your go bag with emergency survival kit and run, you never know how large is secondary waves.

Wildfires
Wildfires are common for almost all places of mother Earth, if there are any kind of vegetation this place is more or less potential wildfire place. With recent years heat waves and extreme hot weather, large wildfires become common threat not only to nature resources, but also various towns and cities as often uncontrolled fire from wilderness spread into human build structures, leading to heavy loses of material resources and human lives. Together with
high winds wildfires often become true firestorms which burn everything on it’s way, easily crossing rivers, roads and other potential obstacles. Early evacuation should be good choice in case of wildfire so have your survival gear and important valuables ready and everything packed in to save your and rescue team time.

Famines
Information regarding depleted soil, heat waves or floods, sudden cold in the middle of the summer when none expect it, are often in everyday news, so often that none think that each of this case mean another shortage of food to someone. Every day people die from starvation around the globe, but most of developed countries inhabitants do not even think about possibility that tomorrow your local store shelf can be empty. This is thin line between day before you have plenty of everything and this morning you find out that you can’t buy basic food because supermarkets are empty. For your information, food are basic supplies that disappear when any serious disaster strikes so do not leave yourself and your family hungry, with proper preparation and knowing what to do you can easily store food for at least year and easy avoid possible shortages and even save on rising food prices.

Volcanic eruptions
Volcanic active places are most common to ares where Earth’s crust are stretching and thinning, in major cases this are boundaries of tectonic plates. Tectonic plates moving are always followed by various natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides, along with volcanic eruptions. If you live in seismoactive area, extreme caution are required for any warnings issued by meteorological agencies. It’s better react to false alarm, then miss something important.

Heat waves
Very hot and even worse hot and humid weather for prolonged period of time period is called a heat wave. Extreme heat make human body work on abnormal rate to maintain normal body temperature, which often lead to serious health problems especially with older or persons with various blood pressure and heart diseases. Heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke are just a few of problems which can be caused by excessive hot weather. To be prepared and survive possible problems caused by heat wave in first you must prepare your home and office by installing window reflectors, have appropriate ventilation and wear appropriate clothes when you are indoors and outdoors. Drink a lot of liquid and stay away from alcohol and heavy meals. Cut off time being outdoor exposed to bright sun as much as possible and always have additional water in your bag if you still need doing something outside.

Floods and landslides
Heavy rains and problems with poor irrigation systems often leads to severe floods even to countries where floods are unusual. In recent years many of unprepared to severe flood countries has serious hit when lands which are never be threaten by floods, got a loads of water after heavy rains. Flushed by water soil on mountainous regions produce another serious threat related to excessive water – landslides, when soil mixed with muddy waters often bury under themselves complete towns with everything inside. Best practice to survive flood are be ready to evacuate at first possible chance, so have survival gear list is a must for anyone living in affected area.

Never underestimate power of nature, you and your family must always be prepared according your environment. Be ready for any emergency situation, no mater man made or natural disaster and stay safe!

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